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John William Corbet Dwyer

Rank:Private

Serial No:Serial No. 510

Regiment:13th Battalion

Suburb:Appin

John William Corbet Dwyer - Information

John was a member of the Dwyer family that came from Appin. John was born and raised in Appin before moving to Auburn St in Sutherland with his wife, Eileen. When the war started, John was working as a bridge carpenter. At the age of 36, he enlisted at the Royal Showground in Sydney on the 21st of June 1916, a few months after his brother Percy signed up.

John trained at the Dubbo Depot, and was posted to the 21st Reinforcements, 13th Battalion. His unit embarked Sydney on the Ceramic in October and landed in Plymouth in late November. By May 1917, John was in the trenches with the 13th Battalion on the Western Front. The 13th was his brother, Percyâs unit. Upon arriving, the Battalion would have informed him that Percy had been captured by the enemy. Then on the 10th of June, during the Battle of Messines, John was mildly injured with a gun shot wound to his left hand. His wound was treated, and he returned to the trenches a week later. John then fought during the devastating Third Battle of Ypres, slogging it out at Menin Road. In 1918, the 13th Battalion met the German Spring Offensive, defending Hamel. Halting the advance, they began gaining territory with peaceful penetration. Then on the 4th of July 1918, John was wounded a second time, with a gun shot wound to his upper left arm. He was transported to a hospital in France, and then evacuated to London. It was an extensive wound, with John still receiving treatment after the war ended in November, recovering at the 3rd Auxiliary Hospital in Dartford. On Christmas Eve 1918, he was given an early Christmas present and was sent home to Australia.